the. kind of militants are controlling major cities in western iraq a show of strength not seen since their battles with u.s. forces a decade ago we look at who these insurgents are and how they became so strong. while in syria al-qaeda linked rebels and other opposition groups are engulfed in bloody infighting the forthcoming peace talks are under threat from the growing divisions among those aiming to topple assad. approval ratings for leaders to an all time low as bailouts and austerity trigger a clearance sale of countries assets to patch up the budget holes are to reports on how many people are upset with the move. by selling. a priceless. price tag to. europeans gather in the streets to protest against the controversial

initiative declaring that they are not ready to sell history and culture to keep a commies and help them stay afloat. and playing it safe concerns are growing about how athletes and visitors will be acted at russia's upcoming winter olympics in sochi to see what is being done to secure the olympic host city. and broadcasting live from our studios in moscow recapping the week's top stories is r t with the weekly. affiliated militants have been occupying key areas in iraq's anbar province for over two weeks tanks have been deployed in the provincial capital ramadi and the army hasn't been able to drive insurgents out of nearby flu

either militants haven't had such open control in a major iraqi city since the u.s. led invasion in two thousand and three parties got a tip you can look at why they are gaining strength. young. with. integrity they run on chaos emboldened by the fighting in syria these are kind of linked militants overran parts of iraq including the city of the literature going on and we have said earlier that the syria story will actually go into iraq and this is what we were warning about chaos in neighboring syria does the u.s. and its allies threaten the syrian government sending the signal to the rebels to fight off to the detriment of the political outcome islamic schools have now taken over the opposition movement there and have even chased the western backed leader of the free syrian army out of the country to be honest you the reliever won't because if you kick it they're going to come out and bite you and that's what we did when we invaded iraq you know three and it can bite not just somewhere far in

a war zone but here in the u.s. american intelligence and counterterrorism officials now say islamic extremist groups in syria with ties talk tied are recruiting and training americans who have traveled there to get them to carry out attacks when they return home there are dozens of extremist islamist forces that are operating both inside syria and over the syrian borders walk has been a breeding ground for extremists since the u.s. says they should now residents of the village and other parts of the country are bracing themselves for the iraqi army's assault as it attempts to drive militants out of seized areas the u.s. is supplying hellfire missiles and other weapons to help the iraqi government in the fight the last thing needs as more missiles we heard the u.s. government say they decimated al qaeda is leading the groups that continue their cause expand and what they thrive on best is chaos the worst part chaos to iraq

and syria washington support for armed opposition has benefited extremists in washington i'm going to. the jihadists entrenched in iraq's western province are from a group called the islamic state of iraq and of the levant a u.s. military publication says the organization expanded its influence significantly last year and now boasts over five thousand members it was formed back in two thousand and four year after the u.s. led invasion of iraq began these sunni extremists were then known as the al qaeda in iraq after pledging allegiance to the infamous organization the group's leader said this summer that its goals are to tear down the border between iraq and syria and to destroy both governments many of its members are fighting against president assad in syria and the group says they carried out a suicide blast in lebanon a couple weeks ago and kerry guard is a former danish intelligence officer who served in iraq he believes that al qaeda

is as strong as ever and that iraqi security forces are overmatched in my opinion. has never been on the run it might have been downscaling due to pressure but once this precious lifted the organization is back in full force and it uses these. pulses to regain its bring the fighting ability of these the isis for instance is very strong but very contained to the localized battles and one thing. isis and the rebels has is is them and that they want to continue fighting and the iraqi army really hasn't got a chance to fight these militias. and to all to ready kate them. meanwhile in a neighboring syria the strengthening of al qaeda linked groups has led to growing infighting between once allied rebels fierce clashes between rival opposition

factions have killed at least to seven hundred people this week according to the syrian observatory for human rights almost one hundred of them are believed to be civilians who were executed by militants from the islamic state of iraq and levant the outbreak of a war with in a war has prompted some western politicians and others who previously rooted soley for assad's removal to change their stance here are just some of their latest statements former cia director michael hayden said that the assad regime is beginning to look like the lesser of all evils you know the former u.s. ambassador to syria iraq and afghanistan ryan crocker agreed that assad is not as bad as the jihadi russia has long been warning of the threat some opposition groups in syria pose foreign minister lavrov was welcomed has welcomed the realisation of this in the west infighting within the ranks of the syrian rebels is threatening russia u.s. brokered peace conference that is due in less than two weeks time the world's top

diplomats are in paris right now to pressure syria's main opposition group the syrian national council into taking part meanwhile u.s. secretary of state john kerry has already expressed his confidence that the council will participate in the peace talks but journalist john white believes the s.n.c. lost its status on the ground a long time ago. seemed clear there since he credibility on the ground it can deliver nothing on the ground over the rebel factions or. c.e.o. or most of them and we have the faith to other groups. the us administration is increasingly desperate to try and together some kind of syrian opposition and they can do business with the city in a position of the city national council no really only exists. and it only exists. us patronage so this is increasingly seems like

a field process that is about to hit the ball. the past five years could hardly be called the good times for leadership and has seen public support and confidence in lawmakers diminishing and eventually hitting a record lows the data comes from a new regional poll and a study suggests the tumbling approval rating is linked directly to the budget cuts and economic woes taking spain for instance where public support is now drastically low or even ireland which has just successfully exited its bailout program but despite that the aftermath of the e.u.'s austerity demands is still driving the numbers down the euro skeptic u.k. used to top the critics lips with only around a third actually back in brussels now it's even lower than that dropping below thirty percent approval rating a decline has not changed the belt tightening policies of struggling countries governments are putting some of their most valuable assets up for sale just to stay

afloat and. reports. it's been dubbed the great european fire sale in a bid for cash these are just some of what's been up for grabs but even funds raised from headline grabbing deals might not be enough like six greek island sold for eight point five million euros and italian island sold for two. point nine million exclusive rights to use the coliseums image on their products for fifteen years twenty five million euros government debt in the euro zone is greater now than it was a year ago and some of the sales have led to public anger and frustration bestselling history and culture there selling beauty things that a priceless and they've attached a price tag to it i think that's absolutely reprehensible there's absolutely no guarantee that that privatization will help consumers at all and one of the most surprising items recently put on the market was citizenship for a little over a million euros you get a maltese passport and therefore becoming the e.u.

says it a move that's been put on hold as two thirds of the public at opposition leaders cry foul. ball does we'll do the same legal gone through these which in the interest rates meant a huge international down which which was uncalled for because more go to date has one of the lowest rates of unemployment in the whole european union it's a question of principle over citizenship should not be full of on say proponents of privatization see it as a necessity for even nations that are in dire straits but also warned that buy europe at a bargain may not be as much of a jackpot as one might think if i were investor i wouldn't be buying many of these things all of these countries have serious political risks for any kind of foreign investor anybody trying to. buy a house and italy has to reckon with the possibility that ten twenty years down the line a government is just going to nationalize whatever they whatever they want to nationalize

but for what it's worth this sale continues tesser silvio r.t. . iran and six world powers have announced to the day when they will officially begin implementing of the nuclear deal reached in november on january twentieth tehran is said to start scaling back its atomic program the process is set to be completed in a half year period that the aggrievement. covers in response four point two billion dollars of iranian assets will be on frozen in several stages despite this agreement the push for fresh sanctions is gaining new supporters in the u.s. congress president obama has already stated that he will veto any such bill should one be passed some experts think that western powers may have many reasons to be looking forward to iran's reintegration into the world's economy. the fact of the matter is the reason there's this to taunt. there's two factions we've got the the military pro war israeli factual one side that could never have peace with iran no

matter what and then you have the fact that the world the west and the world needs iran they need the liquidity from petrochemical exports they need trade there's a stack of global stagnation economically right now and opening up i ran into the world trading theater is going to do a lot to increase trade and obviously move money around the world and goods and services back and forth at a time when it's much needed so there's two two camps here battling it out one to keep iran closed and other counsel open for trade. there's a natural resource more precious than oil and it is so scarce in certain areas of the middle east to get it could spark major conflicts later in the program we look into how the lack of water could become a tipping point in a number of already volatile regions plus. i think. japan is becoming a fertile ground for the far right with nationalists calling for the country three

game self-respect and reassert its presence in these stories and much more just ahead. tens of thousands of police officers are carefully monitoring access to and pick venues and transport hubs that is what security is like in such a right now as it prepares to host russia's first ever winter games in three. a half weeks. toward the resort to see what else is being done to protect athletes and spectators. the twenty second olympic winter games in two thousand and fourteen . to defeat the. i as soon as russia's black sea resort was awarded the game seven years ago. as a question the choice of host city such as close proximity to the volatile caucuses region was they are huge a cause for concern. and the recent twin terror attacks in volgograd

some seven hundred kilometers from sochi every ignited some of those worries organizers say security has been their main priority since day one from the very beginning of the construction phase. made those with months to prepare the special measures to stop them from the screen in the materials checking in all the venue. incredible measures of the security to provide this safe environment here with less than a month to go now until the games begin tight security measures are already in place around forty thousand police and security offices are expected to be on patrol all sales of dangerous hunting equipment but by and for the duration of the games there's also a controlled stretching sixty kilometers along the coast and twenty five kilometers inland and encompassing all venues. in terms of security

so it is a special case because this area visit this only there are security details from a number of countries including the u.k. and u.s. working. on those security forces will be coming together to protect places like this is the brand new purpose built train station in the olympic village is going to be one of the main transport hubs during the games moving. thousands of spectators with the bulk of the work now complete with all the news and transport networks built and tested so she's now just waiting for the sporting world to descend. altie sort. of u.k. is battling a new wave of the floods extreme weather has turned some areas into islands flood alerts are in place across the nation on the in motion section of our website we've got footage in all of the details for you. plus you won't see this in moscow but metros around the world saw scores of people in their underwear taking

part in it no pants subway ride day the annual event began twelve years ago in new york and as it spread globally too cold for it here are dot com for the full story and photos of course. two people have been killed and twenty injured in a suicide bomber attack on a bus carrying police recruits in afghanistan's capital kabul the taliban have admitted to carrying out the assault the militant group gaining strength remains a major concern especially ahead of the upcoming withdrawal of nato troops scheduled to be completed by the end of the year american officials underline that it's crucial for security in the country some of its forces remain in afghanistan beyond that date but president karzai is fusing to sign the deal that would make that possible the latest reports from top u.s. negotiators say that it is unlikely the pact will be sealed before afghanistan's april presidential elections frank ledwidge

a lawyer and former military officer who served in iraq and afghanistan explains why the deal is crucial for the united states. no settlements in my view anyway is likely to have any chance of success by settlement time need a sort of political way forward from the american perspective on the troops that. because what will simply happen is that they should insurgency in the south what we call the taliban is likely to take a greater stake in any political arrangement to the election assuming of course that the elections go well this is an absolutely crucial deal for the americans and they're playing a very dangerous game here the cards aren't that good because our house has all the good has all the good cards oil and gas conflicts will be superseded by water wars in the future that is the warning from experts as the world's population grows access to clean water resources is rising in price let's take

a look at this map the blue dots that you are seeing marked the places where conflicts over water disputes have broken down since the one nine hundred fifty s. these include small protests as well as more serious large scale clashes there have been one hundred seventy eight disputes and all and of the number of hotspots is rising and particularly the struggle for water in the middle east is a key issue in some ongoing conflicts but he's also the reports. the bible tells us that within a short distance from here jesus turned water into wine two thousand years later the great american might be turning the wine back into water bubby carballo has been living in the golan heights for over thirty years each day he attends to his many arden orchards keeping his wine in a cellar that was once a syrian bunker he is proud of the wine he produces but knows that in the absence of water none of this would be possible i don't know usually water's important because it's the second main resource that we have other than the land grab needs

water and without it you will destroy all the crops and destroy all the farming here you can turn the gone right into a disaster and it's not just about the golan heights rainwater from its catchment feeds into the river jordan providing a food of israel's water supply the disputed region was seized from syria after the six day war and residents of the golan remember that water was a key issue in the conflict and one of the stands here understands the importance of the work that all the water supply of israel because every door was raining on it's grown to the security of god it's all we can say it is there must. respect the river for all of the it's what the fox says it's a worldwide rule that whoever controls the water controls the land but the problem is in some places there's very little water to go around for you have the common

waterfalls shared by several foreign nations there's always the possibility of a clash of religious conflicts that should be manageable was put out of control and examples of possible conflicts are plentiful syria's major water sources travel through turkey and iraq making it vulnerable while jordan is reliant on a river with syria bowl today egypt. also recently expressed concern of a countries using the upper now to generate electric power in the dry landscape of the middle east water is a prize more precious than diamonds in its absence famine and drought are quick to follow but this is a region that very seldom needs an excuse for war and water shortages might just tip the balance here r.t. in the golan heights. middle east affairs it journalist adel darwish thinks politicians unwillingness to share vital resources is pushing the world towards new conflicts as the population grew and as are going to cause for growth is always.

what it is when dealing probably were each board or hardly any fish were to live in the plan that would be averted if the idea was exploring a while back what we call a water bank the rivers or water resources shirred among nations if we can quantify the usage of it what you wish for agriculture what you wish for and what you wish for apology of the nation and complain see each other by sort of making the water dollar all that water pound or whatever and then we quantify it into more cooperative projects but without giving give a human nature and nature of politicians are probably not very optimistic. in senegal port authorities in jakarta have promised to provide food water and medical treatment to the crew of a russian fishing vessel they were caught up in a weeklong diplomatic spat over the seizure of the trawler the ship with eighty two

crewmembers on board was taken by force after being accused of trolling in the country's coastal waters but with no official explanation from dakar moscow has called this an act of piracy greenpeace stepped in and sided with senegal provoking russia to accuse the african countries government of acting on a tip off from the environmental group for now russian diplomats are undertaking steps to assist the vessel with obtaining its earliest liberation and departure but a senegalese official has demanded russia pay a fine for the release of the ship. so take a look at some other stories making headlines across the world protesters in thailand are gathering in bangkok in an attempt to shut down the capital officials have sent eighteen thousand police and soldiers into the city as anti-government demonstrators have built barricades and are occupying the streets they claim that the prime minister is a proxy for her brother a former pm who now lives in exile the protesters are demanding that the country's

leader step down and hold elections. at least twenty four people have been wounded in a grenade attack on a school campus in the southern philippines firefighters police and a government disaster workers were trying to put out a blaze at a college when the grenade was thrown forties are trying to determine if the fire was deliberately set to lure authorities before the blast. police in egypt have fired tear gas at supporters of the ousted president mohamed morsi during clashes at cairo's main universities one thousand protesters has not been detained and several injured a fresh outbreak of the violence comes just two days before the planned a vote on a draft constitution. at least twenty one people have been killed and dozens injured in explosions and the military clashes across iraq the capital baghdad was hit with two car bombs the

worst blast targeted morning commuters at a popular bus station killing at least nine their violence has been on the rise in iraq in recent months reaching levels not seen since two thousand and eight. nationalist voices are getting louder in japan far right groups are calling for stronger country with a tougher immigration policy and a beefed up army auntie's alexy i found out that the angry rhetoric is raising some difficult questions. i think. it's become a tradition in japan when some foreign officials are subjected to verbal abuse on this particular occasion japanese nationalists made their feelings known loud and clear to russia's foreign minister china and south korea have also been in their crosshairs one for an island dispute the other for sending too many labor migrants to japan in one of the latest protests korean workers were described as cockroaches which needed to be exterminated this man is one of those behind the nationalist

willies in japan he says he'd like to see japan more closely citee ones or there was an organized and we've been to open to the world and now foreigners come here and commit crimes i want us to return to the pre-war period where we were closed and self-sufficient despite criticizing the government for its immigration policies the movement could not be feeling more coffeetable since twenty twelve when she was reelected as prime minister at such rallies. have been on the rise. those are not only foreign nationals and delegations getting their stick from japanese nationalists there are locals who have directly suffered from their country for the coming war far right these school teachers have been protesting because they lost their jobs for not complying with what they call ultranationalist regulations in schools about what they see below should be made as an obligation to listen to the national anthem before classes until my pupils part of who were not even japanese and it wasn't obligatory to stand up and then i got fired but it's not only about

instilling national pride speculation is rife that with all this stronger japan hype is eager to amend the nine hundred forty seven constitution namely article number nine which braves japan from having any kind of army other than for defense purposes. in the increasingly intertwined world we can ensure the peace of our nation without proactively taking a role in the peace and security of the world why don't we take steps forward on the issue of constitution amendment but not everyone is buying it a more far reaching goal could be reshaping the regional balance of power. there's been talk among high profile politicians including former prime minister is on launching a public debate on whether japan should have nuclear weapons that it never materialized but it's something that the ruling elite has been pondering for years now and non-pacifist japan let alone nuclear power would send shock waves across the region say experts but for now even with nationalist voices getting louder polls suggest

that such ideas are still some way from becoming reality exhibitionist iatse reporting from japan. well coming up peter lavelle in his guests discussing the increasing global influence of al qaeda that's after a short break right here on r.g.p. international stay with. millions around the globe struggle with hunger each day. what if someone offers a lifetime food supply no charge only and they carry said they can the very strong position against g.m.o. and we think that that the genetically modified products are traced to or

that there is no. evidence to this any problem with genetic engineering when you make a deal. or is free cheese always in a mouse trap i don't believe that that destroys. three. is profit. for this golden rice. camarena life should be. the face. book. cool. a pleasure to have you with us here on.

this immediately below so we leave that maybe. five the scene potions to cure in the play your party isn't going. to push you is that no one is asking with the guests that you deserve answers from it's all on politics only on our t.v. . wealthy british stock. market. find out what's really happening to the global economy stronger for a no holds barred.